Anonymous online personalities are drawing Botswana’s institutions into disputes, raising questions about manufactured political influence and the corruption of truth.
DR DOUGLAS RASBASH
An anonymous Facebook account publishes an allegation against a politician. Within hours, the accusation is shared, condemned, defended and repeated. Nobody knows who wrote it, who supplied the information or whether anyone was paid to circulate it. Yet the allegation becomes part of the national political conversation. By the time the truth emerges, the political damage may already have been done.
The controversies surrounding France Museveni, Happy Omang and, most recently, Gosee Kone have drawn political parties, trade unions, police, courts and Parliament into disputes originating with anonymous online personalities. Governments have changed, but the practice has persisted. The question is whether Botswana is experiencing something more consequential: the corruption of truth as an instrument of political influence.
BOTSWANA’S ANONYMOUS WARS
During the BDP administration, France Museveni became notorious for publishing allegations against senior politicians and public officials. Former minister Unity Dow accused Botho Seboko, then a senior official in the Office of the President, of operating the account. Seboko instituted legal proceedings against Dow. Police acknowledged complaints, while the BDP denied association with the account. The accusations concerning its operators and possible state security links remained disputed.
Following the UDC’s October 2024 victory, France Museveni apparently fell silent. Happy Omang subsequently drew complaints from political figures and organised labour. In May 2026, BOFEPUSU questioned the government’s apparent failure to act against the account and offered to assist investigations. The federation’s suspicions of political tolerance or involvement were allegations, not verified findings.
In October 2026, the Botswana Congress Party protested the reported arrest and interrogation of two activists over their reactions to a Facebook post associated with Gosee Kone. The BCP questioned the government’s commitment to freedom of expression. The legal circumstances require clarification. Across these controversies, the identities, funding and coordination of the accounts remain unestablished.
WHEN FALSEHOODS BITE
Nigeria offers a warning about consequences. In 2003, false rumours that polio vaccines would sterilise children gained political and religious endorsement. Authorities in Kano suspended vaccination campaigns for approximately a year. The interruption contributed to the resurgence and international spread of poliovirus. Misinformation had helped produce an institutional decision with measurable human consequences.
Claims that Bill Gates intended to sterilise Africans through vaccination have also repeatedly resu
rfaced, despite a lack of credible evidence. Fact-checkers identified manipulated or unrelated footage circulated in 2020 and 2026. Their continued circulation does not, by itself, prove changes in vaccination behaviour; that requires additional evidence.
THE PAID MACHINERY
In South Africa, Bell Pottinger undertook a communications campaign in 2016 for Oakbay, linked to the Gupta family, reportedly worth £100,000 a month. Narratives around “white monopoly capital” circulated amid state capture allegations. Reporting documented a coordinated media and social media network, including at least 220,000 tweets over a year. The United Kingdom’s Public Relations and Communications Association expelled the firm in 2017, and it subsequently collapsed. Political narrative manipulation could clearly be a commercial service.
In Kenya, Mozilla Foundation researchers documented campaigns attacking judges, journalists and civil society during the Building Bridges Initiative controversy. They identified more than 23,000 tweets across at least 11 campaigns and approximately 3,700 accounts. Some participants described receiving US$10–15 daily through M-Pesa to promote political messages. That evidence showed coordination and reported payment, not simply citizens expressing similar opinions.
Meta also documented a Russian-linked influence network targeting African countries through apparently local accounts and Pages. It identified 67 Facebook accounts, 70 Pages, two Groups and around US$107,300 in advertising expenditure. Local freelancers appeared to work for individuals in Russia. These examples show how sponsorship can be obscured; they do not establish that Botswana’s anonymous accounts operate the same way.
THE PRICE OF INFLUENCE
The amounts range from small payments to online participants to major professional contracts. They cannot simply be added together. There is no verified public estimate of expenditure linked to France Museveni, Happy Omang or Gosee Kone. Whether their activity is independent, sympathiser-funded or organised remains a question for investigation.
OUTRAGE AND REACH
Social media adds another dimension. Research published in Science in 2024 found that misinformation sources were more likely than reliable sources to provoke outrage, and that outrage increased people’s willingness to share content, sometimes without reading it. Supporters circulate an accusation approvingly; opponents repeat it to condemn it. Even a correction may reach fewer people. The process does not require everyone to believe the allegation. It may be enough to create suspicion.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRUTH
Political parties must explain their relationships with online supporters and paid communications networks. Public institutions must apply the law consistently without suppressing legitimate criticism. Journalists must distinguish reporting on a controversy from validating an unverified allegation. There is also an essential distinction between anonymity and deception: whistleblowers and dissidents may have legitimate reasons to conceal their identities.
The evidence does not establish that Botswana’s political discourse has deteriorated beyond repair, or that substantive policy debate has declined. Those propositions must be tested against actual posts, circulation, reactions and corrections. Restoring confidence requires independent journalism, transparent political communication, credible institutions, media literacy and protection of free expression. Winning attention and establishing the truth are not the same achievement.
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